Plastic materials are finding increased use within the electrical distribution protection industry in view of the good mechanical and electrical resistance properties of plastic materials such as Noryl which is a trademark of General Electric Company for synthetic thermoplastic resins for molding and extrusion purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,118,754 entitled "Electric Panel Having Molded Base Pan" describes the use of such plastic material for an electric panel assembly for mounting circuit breakers. The assembly uses formations integrally-formed within the assembly for retaining the circuit breaker stab support bus bars.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,865 entitled "Extruded Three-Phase Base Pan Configuration for a Load Center" describes a plastic extruded circuit breaker support structure having integrally-formed channels for receiving the circuit breaker stab support bus bars.
To further enhance the use of integrally-formed plastic formations for automated assembly of circuit breaker support assemblies at a substantial savings in time and materials during the manufacturing process, it would be economically advantageous to eliminate the requirements of any metal fasteners whatsoever.
One purpose of the invention is to describe a circuit breaker support saddle that is assembled in an automated process that utilizes formations within the saddle components to position and secure the components without requiring additional metal fasteners.